There's a tight change of plane at Miami Airport, the plane is slightly delayed coming into Miami, leaving just 90mins to change. By the time I've been suitably checked that I'm not an illegal immigrant, don't have any drugs or agricultural products, and answered twice to US officials about where I got the money for this trip it's a dash across the terminal to make my flight to Boston.

Once I arrive I meet my cousin at his apartment in Lawrence, about 30 mins out of Boston. I get an ample supply of root beer, as I only have one week to enjoy it before years more of yearning. It's a little disappointing to find that I'm unable to get access to my cash in the home of consumer capitalism, whereas my card worked just fine in the Peruvian rainforest.

We pay a short visit to the Philips Academy, a private school in Andover, near Lawrence, where many famous people went. Hiram Bingham (the man who discovered Machu Picchu - how's that for a link!), Samuel Morse (of Morse code fame) and George W. Bush were all educated, or not in the case of the latter, there.